more on asian airlines

Commenting on my earlier post on the Skytrax rankings for airlines which had 8 Asian airlines in the top 10, Charu says -I think it is because Asian companies still have high standards of 'service' - people expect more in return for what they pay? esp. in the tertiary/service sector...?I dont quite agree with him there.

I think the difference exist for other reasons.

1. Asian cos. do not usually have the latest in aircrafts etc. They try to make up for the same with better service levels.

This gets reflected in the ratings since the typical passenger doesnt give a rat's ass about whether the brand is a brand new model or one that is 10 years old as long as it takes off, flies and lands (something that Air Deccan may not manage to do), on time.

While the service levels are obviously of importance to him since they have a direct impact on his flying experience.

2. The US/European model of flying has a lot of people travelling very short distances, something that has not quite caught on in Asia yet.

In a short haul flight, there is only so much you can do to make the passenger feel special. No movies, no elaborate food (too short flying time for that) etc.

While Asian flights, on an average, are of much longer duration and hence have the time to give facilities which put them above the US/European carriers.

Note, Qantas is ranked higher. Correlate it with the fact that it has really long haul flights from Australia all over the world and can therefore give the kind of facilities that are just not possible on short routes, hence the high ranking.Any other views?

whatever. first things first - it is 'her' not 'him' and 'she' still maintains that Asians expect more service for the money they pay - you can see it all around you - I see people sitting inside a Deccan aircraft and cribbing about having to pay for each thing... and I don't agree that Asian flights on an average are of much longer duation...

But I still disagree with you.passengers in Deccan crib because they are the people who have this idea about air travel which includes everything for free. Not realising that low cost carriers have a different pricing paradigm.

And Asian flights are definitely of a longer duration, on avg, simply because we have flights on very large distances and almost nil on short ones.

Imagine Delhi - Singapore, or Dubai-London etc.

I am not saying the western airlines do not have such long flights but the average is pulled down by the incredibly short (10-15 mins) flights, which they have in hundreds.